Elson 
ONG

 
Visiting Researcher

Elson obtained his LLB (Hons) and LLM (Maritime Law) degrees from the University of Southampton in 2013 and 2015 respectively. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 2016 and practised with RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP (now RHTLaw Asia LLP), assisting on banking and finance, crypto, real estate, data centre and re-domiciliation matters. Elson was a former Research Associate of the Centre for Maritime Law at NUS Law (2 May 2017 to 1 May 2023). During that time, he completed a few research projects and contributed to the CML CMI database project. He also volunteered his time as a member of ITSC (Information Technology Standards Committee) and ISO/TC 307/WG 5 (Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies). Elson is currently a PhD candidate at NUS Law. His thesis examines the relevance of trust in digitalising commercial shipping using doctrinal and empirical methodologies.

Contact

elson.ong@u.nus.edu

In Residence

2 May 2022 to 1 May 2023
  • Carriage of Goods by Sea
  • Electronic Bills of Lading
  • Blockchain and DLT
  • Smart Shipping and the Law
  • Digital Trust

Research Title

Digitalising Commercial Shipping: The Relevance of Trust

This interdisciplinary project, conducted using doctrinal and empirical methodologies, investigates the perennial question of why commercial shipping has been unable to digitalise. It explores how trust issues have prevented commercial shipping from digitalising, what is the role of trust in digitalisation and whether the adoption of trust-disrupting technology and digital trust legislation can help commercial shipping overcome this hurdle. New technologies, including 3D printing, 5G, AI, blockchain, cloud computing, DLT, IoT, oracles, robotics and smart contracts, will feature in the discussion. The thesis combines insights from the disciplines of law, computer science, social science and business studies to resolve the trust problem in a way that seeks to best manage the risks of digitalisation.

Publications

Book Chapters

  • “Electronic Bills of Lading, Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology” in Stephen Girvin and Vibe Ulfbeck (eds), Maritime Organisation, Management and Liability: A Legal Analysis of New Challenges in the Maritime industry (Hart Publishing 2021) 195-221 (with Stephen Girvin)

Articles

  • “Blockchain bills of lading and the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records” [2020] Journal of Business Law 202-218
  • “Call a bill a bill: The Star Quest” (2017) 23 Journal of International Maritime Law 328-335

Working Papers

Reports

Presentations

  • “Why is trust relevant for shipping to digitalise?”, CML Lunch Seminar, 15 March 2023
  • “Electronic bills of lading”, NUS CMS, MAritime Digital Efficiency (MADE) 1st Workshop, 24 November 2022
  • “An empirical study of digital shipping stakeholders’ views on digitalisation”, CML Lunch Seminar, 9 November 2022
  • “Maritime technology operators”, CML Lunch Seminar, 26 January 2022
  • “Data risks, data protection and cybersecurity”, CML Lunch Seminar, 13 October 2021
  • “The relevance of trust in commercial shipping”, CML Lunch Seminar, 27 January 2021
  • “A discussion of three Canadian bills of lading cases”, CML Lunch Seminar, 30 September 2020
  • “Fourth industrial revolution, blockchain and the Internet of Logistics”, CML Lunch Seminar, 4 March 2020
  • “On-demand freight services and bailment”, CML Lunch Seminar, 6 March 2019
  • “Blockchain for commercial shipping”, CEVIA-CML Conference on Maritime Management, Organization and Liability, 27 November 2018 (in Copenhagen)
  • “Blockchain and bills of lading”, CML Lunch Seminar, 7 November 2018
  • “Electronic data interchange and blockchain bills of lading”, NUS Law Carriage of Goods by Sea lecture, 20 September 2018 (guest speaker)
  • “Blockchain bills of lading”, CML Lunch Seminar, 14 February 2018
  • “Call a bill a bill: The Star Quest”, CML Lunch Seminar, 10 October 2017